Anne Sewell Young, American Astronomer

Anne Sewell Young (January 2, 1871-August 15, 1961) American astronomer was the most famous of the early astronomy students at Carleton College and one of the few professional women astronomers of her day. Carleton produced half a dozen professional women astronomers in the first 50 years of the program; Young was the only one to win a citation in Who's Who. She got her Ph.d. from Columbia with doctoral work on the double cluster in Perseus, based on measures of early photographs taken by Lewis Rutherford. She was one of the eight founders of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), and submitted over 6, 500 observations over a 33 year period. In 1881, Mount Holyoke College constructed the John Payson Williston Observatory, and in 1899 Anne Young was appointed director. In 1903, a library and lecture room were added to the observatory building and in 1907, astronomy was made a major course of study at the College, with Young serving as Department Chair. She retired in 1936 and died in 1961 at the age of 90

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